Senate to vote on privacy act

The Senate finally is expected to pass a bill Wednesday overhauling rules on secret government eavesdropping, completing a lengthy and bitter debate that pitted privacy and civil liberties concerns against the desire to prevent terrorist attacks.

The vote would end almost a year of wrangling between the House and Senate, Democrats and Republicans, and Congress and the White House over the president’s warrantless wiretapping program that was initiated after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The fight over the bill has centered on one provision: shielding from civil lawsuits telecommunications companies that helped the government eavesdrop on American phone and computer lines, without the permission or knowledge of a secret court created by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.